Huaguo, Presidential Palace.

Yang Du reported to Xiao Zhenlei in the presidential office on the progress of the war against Japan, "At present, our army has landed along the way, the forward troops of the 45th Division have arrived in Fukuoka and are attacking the Japanese defense line on the periphery of Fukuoka, and in Gongqi, the 46th Division has entered Miyazaki Castle and is clearing the remnants of the Japanese army in Miyazaki Castle!" Overall, progress is still very fast."

Xiao Zhenlei got up and walked a few steps, stopped and asked, "Do you think this progress is too fast or too slow?" ”

Yang Du understood Xiao Zhenlei's thoughts, he said: "According to the strategic deployment of the president, only when the Tsarist side of the Russian side is in full civil strife, can we really defend the Japanese, judging from the current situation, there is still a period of time before the collapse of the Tsarist Russian regime, so the attack on Japan can not be too fast, if the Japanese can't resist surrendering, then it will be troublesome for us, because the Tsarist side will ask to send troops to recover Siberia, at that time we are not good to oppose, if the Russian army asks, Our army cannot continue to stay in the territory of Tsarist Russia, as far as the progress of our army's offensive against Japan is concerned, it is still under normal conditions, after all, this war has just begun, if General Xu is asked to slow down the progress of the offensive, then the grassroots officers and soldiers below do not know, and it may cause demoralization! ”

Xiao Zhenlei took a puff of cigarette, turned his head and said, "You mean to let Xu Shaozhen fight according to this progress first?" ”

"Don't dare to talk nonsense casually, a big presidential ruling is required!" Yang Du hurriedly said, "There is one more thing, according to the battle situation from the front and the comparison of the casualties of our army and the Japanese army, the Japanese resistance is very resolute and stubborn, starting from the landing operation of our army. Very few Japanese soldiers fled, and almost none surrendered. There were no prisoners, and almost all of them were killed in battle. If the Japanese ran out of bullets, they used bayonets, even if they were held to the head by the gun, the Japanese soldiers would resist, this situation caused great casualties to our army, our soldiers thought that they could capture those Japanese soldiers, but everyone who had this idea was wrong, many people just thought that they could capture Japanese soldiers, so they were counterattacked by Japanese soldiers and lost their lives. In response to this situation, commanders at all levels have convened meetings of officers to discuss how to deal with this situation. But until now, there has not been a feasible plan, and this matter was quickly placed in front of General Xu Shaozhen, but General Xu has not made a decision until now! ”

Xiao Zhenlei nodded when he heard this, but he didn't give instructions on this matter, but just said to Yang Du: "Okay, I know, you can go."

Xiao Zhenlei had long expected that the army might encounter this situation in the war against Japan, although Japan's culture originated from China. However, the Japanese have made corresponding changes, and Japan itself is an island country, and the narrow-mindedness and vision of the island people determine that it will inevitably go to extremes.

Chinese soldiers are influenced by the long-term influence of their own culture, and it is impossible for them to do things that destroy their humanity, even if they are soldiers. They also believed that they should leave a line in their work, so many soldiers had this idea, and if they could, they would capture the Japanese army. Shooting at the Japanese soldiers, who were already running out of ammunition, many of the soldiers could not do such a thing. So they pointed their guns at the Japanese soldiers, who had run out of ammunition, and told them to surrender. Some Japanese resisted on the spot and were killed, but it was not uncommon for Japanese soldiers to be extremely cunning and chose to give in at that time, but suddenly counterattacked while the Chinese soldiers were not paying attention.

At this time, Xiao Zhenlei thought to himself, what does Yang Du mean by reporting this matter to me? Did he want me to give me instructions?

Of course, Xiao Zhenlei can't give instructions on this kind of thing, no matter what kind of instructions he makes, it will be unfavorable to him, you must know that he is the president of a country, if the instructions do not leave prisoners, it is equivalent to ordering a massacre, once this kind of instruction is made, if it is turned out by someone else, or it is turned out by later generations, it is very likely to be understood as a massacre, it was he who ordered the slaughter, and he is not willing to carry this black cauldron.

As for the progress of the war against Japan, Xiao Zhenlei felt that it was necessary to have a conversation with Xu Shaozhen, in fact, of course he hoped that the progress of the war against Japan would be as fast as possible, and that ending the war in Japan as quickly as possible would save a lot of military spending, which was very important for the emerging country of China, and the huge war military expenditure would bring a huge burden and pressure to the cabinet government and delay the country's development speed.

The first reason is as Yang Du said before, if the war against Japan progresses too fast, it will affect his strategic deployment to seize Siberia, and the second reason is that the war at the front is progressing too fast and will cause huge pressure on the logistics in the rear. In this way, it is equivalent to fighting on three fronts at the same time, which is extremely dangerous militarily, so for Xiao Zhenlei, every qiē must be leisurely, if it causes a disjointed logistics, then it will be disastrous for the Chinese army.

After thinking for a long time, Xiao Zhenlei decided to go to Shanghai for a trip, on the one hand to see the development of Shanghai Tang, on the other hand, to inspect Xu Shaozhen's headquarters, and talk to Xu Shaozhen about the progress of the war, now Xu Shaozhen's headquarters is located in Shanghai, and may move to Kyushu Island after a while, before the headquarters moves to Kyushu Island, it is appropriate to express condolences to them, and Xiao Zhenlei also visited several major shipyards in Shanghai.

On November 4, Xiao Zhenlei flew to Shanghai by special plane, Xu Shaozhen and local officials met him at the airport, Xiao Zhenlei first went to Xu Shaozhen's headquarters, the officials returned to continue their work, and Xu Shaozhen accompanied Xiao Zhenlei to the Japanese mainland combat command.

Around the headquarters, there are not only the organs directly under the headquarters, but also some armies under the command of the headquarters, and at present, only two infantry divisions have landed on the Japanese mainland, and other units are carrying out pre-war mobilization and training on the beach to run in with friendly forces, and some units are rushing to this side.

Throughout the day, Xiao Zhenlei expressed his condolences to the officers and men who were preparing to take part in the war against the Japanese mainland, and personally went down to the company to talk with the officers and men. Ask them about their thoughts and thoughts, about their lives and marital problems, and so on.

At night. After dinner, Xiao Zhenlei sent someone to inform Xu Shaozhen to come over at his accommodation. Xu Shaozhen was a little puzzled by Xiao Zhenlei calling him over at night, what is it difficult to say during the day, it must be at night? In fact, he didn't know that Xiao Zhenlei didn't come here for him at this time, Xiao Zhenlei had other work to do during the day.

"President, General Xu is here!" Yang Yongtai entered the door and said to Xiao Zhenlei.

Xiao Zhenlei got up when he heard this and said, "Oh, then invite him in!" ”

"Yes!" Yang Yongtai turned around and went out after agreeing, and after a while, he led Xu Shaozhen in.

"President, Xu Shaozhen is here to report, please instruct!" Xu Shaozhen raised his hand and saluted a military salute.

Xiao Zhenlei pointed to the chair next to him: "Come." General Xu, let's sit down and talk! ”

After the two sat down, Xiao Zhenlei asked about the situation on the front line, and Xu Shaozhen gave Xiao Zhenlei a detailed report on the combat situation of the past two days, and he said it in detail in the report.

After listening to this, Xiao Zhenlei asked, "In the battle, are there any difficulties?" ”

Xu Shaozhen said: "Thank you for your concern, not yet!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei pondered for a moment and asked, "Old General Xu, in your opinion, with the current offensive speed of our army. How long will it take to take the whole island of Kyushu? ”

"With the strength of our army and the condition of the Japanese army, I am confident that I can take the entire island of Kyushu within a month and wipe out all the remnants of the Japanese army on the island of Kyushu!"

Although Xu Shaozhen was a soldier in the Beiyang era, he was not a pedantic and legalistic person. I think that in the autumn exercise competition held in the Qing Dynasty that year, the ninth town of Nanyang led by Xu Shaozhen shined in the competition, and he became famous. It can be seen that he is the best among the soldiers of this era. His military talent is definitely not inferior to that of others, and he has the confidence and confidence to say this.

Xiao Zhenlei had no objection to Xu Shaozhen's words. I didn't think he was boasting about Haikou, and after a moment of silence. Xiao Zhenlei said: "Okay, if General Xu has this confidence, I will rest assured!" There's one thing I want to talk to you about, and that's why I've asked the old general to be here today. My strategy for Siberia, presumably the old general knows? ”

Xu Shaozhen's expression became stern when he heard this, and he nodded: "Yes, the president has such a grand strategy, and we absolutely support it as soldiers, but is this matter related to my war against Japan this time?" ”

"Yes, if our country wants to occupy Siberia in the name of righteousness, we must wait until the civil strife in Tsarist Russia, otherwise our country is a division without a name, after all, we are still allies with Tsarist Russia, and only in the case of the demise of the Tsarist authorities can we seek to seize Siberia, if Tsarist Russia does not perish or it does not agree to transfer Siberia to our country, then it has the right to pursue our country at any time, so we must wait until the civil strife in Tsarist Russia, but the Tsarist authorities are overthrown by its revolutionary party, At that time, it was time for us to attack Siberia, and it was necessary to solve the Japanese army in Siberia as quickly as possible, and the war against the Japanese mainland would be directly related to the time of the capture of Siberia, and I needed to control the time very accurately, when the Tsarist government was overthrown by its revolutionary party, that is, when Japan surrendered, and at that time our army occupied all of Siberia as quickly as possible and collected Japanese prisoners of war, even if the new Russian government did not recognize our right to rule over Siberia, At that time, on the one hand, we can come up with the transfer treaty signed with our leaders back then, and on the other hand, we can actively prepare for war, so that we can occupy Siberia in the name of it, and we can also get the support of other countries, after all, we are not taking it by force! Do you understand these thoughts of mine, the old general? ”

"Understood, that means I have to control the progress of the war, not too quickly?" Xu Shaozhen said and said: "But how do I know that Tsarist Russia will have civil strife? ”

Xiao Zhenlei said with a smile: "The general doesn't have to worry about this, I will send someone to contact you in time when the time comes, after taking Kyushu Island, I hope the general can slow down, in addition, the pressure on logistics we are now not ordinarily large, you must know that our army is now fighting on the third front!" ”

Xu Shaozhen stood up and said: "The president has good intentions, and the old man will fully cooperate." (To be continued......)